33-year-old People Power Party freshman lawmaker calls for construction safety measures at GTX-C Wangsimni Station and proposes business town concept for Seongdong Police Station site
Park Ham-wit, a 33-year-old first-term People Power Party lawmaker on the Seongdong-gu Council, is drawing attention for a hands-on approach to local governance.
With the groundbreaking for GTX-C Wangsimni Station approaching, Park has been scrutinizing resident safety measures while also proposing an alternative to housing-heavy development at the Seongdong Police Station site — arguing instead for a stronger commercial and business focus to revitalize the local economy.
Some say his work stands out because he goes beyond identifying administrative shortcomings to actively offering solutions, keeping both resident safety and Wangsimni's long-term development in view.
A graduate of Inha University's economics department who spent three years at a central government agency, Park used Friday's administrative audit by the Seongdong-gu Council's welfare and construction committee to press the transportation administration division on the progress of the GTX-C Wangsimni Station project and demand a stage-by-stage safety management plan for the construction period.
The GTX-C line is an approximately 86.5-kilometer metropolitan express railway connecting Deokjeong in Yangju, Gyeonggi Province, to Suwon via Cheongnyangni, Wangsimni and Samsung stations in Seoul. Once GTX-C is added to Wangsimni Station, the stop will become a major regional transit hub linking five rail lines — subway Lines 2 and 5, the Suin-Bundang Line and the Gyeongui-Jungang Line.
When Park asked about the long-delayed project's groundbreaking schedule and construction plan, Seongdong-gu Transportation Administration Division Chief Jeong Hye-suk said the district plans to wrap up a public information session in December and begin construction by the end of that month.
Park reviewed plans for entrances near Wangsimni Station and the Sageun-dong area and pressed officials on safety risks that could arise during construction.
He focused particularly on blasting noise and vibration from underground excavation and the possibility that existing subway transfer corridors could be narrowed. His concern was that reduced transfer pathways at a heavily used station like Wangsimni could cause pedestrian crowding and bottlenecks, raising the risk of accidents.
"Wangsimni Station is already a major transfer hub with heavy passenger traffic, so if existing corridors narrow during construction, bottlenecks and pedestrian crowding could lead to safety incidents," Park said. "The district needs to carefully review in advance how to secure transfer routes and pedestrian space at each stage of construction."
Park also pressed officials on ground subsidence risks linked to a recent series of underground excavation projects, asking about the current state of safety reviews and contingency measures.
Seongdong-gu Safety, Construction and Transportation Bureau Chief Lee Gi-ho said the GTX-C tunnel is designed to run at a depth of roughly 45 to 60 meters underground, with ground reinforcement planned alongside the tunneling work. He added that the district would strengthen safety management for above-ground ventilation shaft and entrance construction by closely examining underground obstacles and surrounding soil conditions.
Park said the tunnel's depth alone would not be enough to ease residents' concerns. He called for a thorough examination of groundwater flow in the Wangsimni area and the potential impact of existing subway station structures on the excavation, along with concrete waterproofing and ground reinforcement measures to prevent groundwater and soil seepage.
"Telling residents that the tunnel will be deep underground is not enough to put their minds at ease," Park said. "The district must carefully examine how groundwater flows in the Wangsimni area and how existing station structures could be affected, and put in place thorough waterproofing and ground reinforcement measures to prevent soil from escaping during excavation."
Park's concerns extend beyond transportation infrastructure safety. At Thursday's administrative audit, he proposed developing the Seongdong Police Station site and the surrounding Wangsimni transit-oriented area as a business town with a stronger commercial and office focus.
He expressed reservations about a mixed-use development plan that would combine the police station's main headquarters with youth housing and other residential facilities, saying the project needed to account for the unique nature of a police headquarters.
"A police headquarters is fundamentally different from an ordinary public facility," Park said. "Because it operates around the clock as a public safety facility, issues can arise around emergency dispatch noise, security concerns and the need to separate circulation routes from residential areas."
His point was that mixed-use residential development should not proceed without fully accounting for the particular demands of a police headquarters.
He also said Wangsimni's locational strengths should not be channeled solely into housing supply. While Wangsimni is the traditional center of Seongdong-gu and a key transportation hub in northeastern Seoul, he argued the area needs new functions to revive the surrounding commercial district and drive the local economy.
"Wangsimni is the traditional center of Seongdong-gu and a major transit hub in northeastern Seoul, but the surrounding commercial district has not fully recovered its past vitality," Park said. "Rather than approaching this important site purely from a housing supply perspective, development should be oriented toward reviving Wangsimni's commercial district and the local economy."
He also highlighted that the addition of the GTX-C line could significantly strengthen Wangsimni's accessibility and its role as a central hub. His vision is to leverage the increased foot traffic and locational advantages from the expanded transit network to concentrate office, industrial and commercial functions in the area, making it a catalyst for local economic growth.
Seongdong-gu Urban Management Bureau Chief Yoo Ok-hyeon said the district would closely review the feasibility of separating circulation routes between the police station and residential facilities, noting that a police headquarters has unique security and operational requirements that set it apart from an ordinary police substation.
The district's position is that while the policy direction of expanding housing supply must be considered, the complications of combining a police station with residential facilities need to be thoroughly discussed as relevant agencies review the development plan.
Development of the Wangsimni transit-oriented area is a major project that will shape Seongdong-gu's role as a district center and the structure of its local economy. Finding the right balance between housing supply and the expansion of office and commercial functions has emerged as the central challenge for the project going forward.
"Development of the Wangsimni transit-oriented area will determine the future of Wangsimni," Park said. "The development must not tilt toward residential use but instead achieve a balance of office, industrial and commercial functions that makes a real contribution to the local economy."
What sets this first-term lawmaker apart, some say, is his willingness to go beyond raising problems and offer concrete alternatives. Whether Park's push for resident safety in the GTX-C construction and his vision for the local economy in the Wangsimni development will translate into tangible changes in administration and planning remains to be seen.
seouldream01@heraldcorp.com
